Methods and Systems for Checking Expected Network Traffic

1. A method for checking expected network traffic, comprising: a computer system accessing pre-registered expected results of a network traffic checking exercise that comprise expected packet content verification information for individual packets of said network traffic; accessing said network traffic wherein individual packets of said network traffic comprise actual packet content verification information; identifying said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does not match their actual packet content verification information and said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does match their actual packet content verification information; counting instances where said expected packet content verification information matches said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets and instances where said expected packet content verification information does not match said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets; and comparing a count of matches of said expected content verification information and said actual content verification information for each traffic component to an expected count of matches in order to identify duplicated or lost traffic components.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising: directing the forwarding of unexpected traffic components to an analysis sub-system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein modifications to each portion of said individual packets are determined using said packet content verification information without a need to check individual fields associated with each portion of said individual packets.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said expected packet content verification information is an expected frame check sequence (FCS).

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said expected results are predetermined and involve the content of said individual packets as well as a particular port upon which said individual packets will be received.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein modifications to said individual packets are determined by checking an FCS associated with said individual packets.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said identifying is performed by a content addressable memory (CAM).

8. The method of claim 2 wherein said counting is performed by access control list (ACL) logging counters.

9. A system for checking expected traffic, comprising: an expected results accessor for accessing expected results of an expected traffic checking exercise that comprises expected packet content verification information for individual packets; a traffic accessor for accessing traffic wherein individual packets comprise packet content verification information; a traffic identifier for identifying said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does not match their actual packet content verification information and said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does match their actual packet content verification information; a counter for counting instances where said expected packet content verification information matches said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets and instances where said expected packet content verification information does not match said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets; and a comparator for comparing a count of matches of said expected packet content verification information and said actual packet content verification information for individual packets to an expected count of matches in order to identify duplicated or lost traffic components.

10. The system of claim 9 further comprising: a packet forwarding director for directing the forwarding of unexpected packets to an analysis sub-system.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein modifications to each portion of said individual packets are determined using said packet content verification information without a need to check individual fields associated with each portion of said individual packets.

12. The system of claim 9 wherein said expected packet content verification information is an expected frame check sequence (FCS).

13. The system of claim 9 wherein said expected results are predetermined and involve the content of said packet as well as a particular port upon which said data packet will be received.

14. The system of claim 9 wherein modifications to said packet are determined by checking an FCS associated with said traffic component.

15. The system of claim 9 wherein said identifying is performed by a content addressable memory (CAM).

16. The system of claim 10 wherein said counting is performed by access control list (ACL) logging counters.

17. A non-transitory computer-useable medium having computer useable code embodied therein causing a computer to perform operations, comprising: obtaining pre-registered expected results of a network traffic checking exercise that comprise expected packet content verification information for individual packets of said network traffic; receiving said network traffic wherein individual packets of said network traffic comprise actual packet content verification information; selecting said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does not match their actual packet content verification information and said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does match their actual packet content verification information; counting instances where said expected packet content verification information matches said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets and instances where said expected packet content verification information does not match said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets; and comparing a count of matches of said expected content verification information and said actual content verification information for each traffic component to an expected count of matches in order to identify duplicated or lost traffic components.

18. The medium of claim 17 further comprising: directing the forwarding of unexpected traffic components to an analysis sub-system.

19. The medium of claim 17 wherein modifications to each portion of said individual packets are determined using said packet content verification information without a need to check individual fields associated with each portion of said individual packets.

20. The medium of claim 17 wherein said expected packet content verification information is an expected frame check sequence (FCS).

21. The medium of claim 17 wherein said expected results are predetermined and involve the content of said individual packets as well as a particular port upon which said individual packets will be received.

22. The medium of claim 17 wherein modifications to said individual packets are determined by checking an FCS associated with said traffic component.

23. The medium of claim 17 wherein said selecting is performed by a content addressable memory (CAM).

24. The medium of claim 18 wherein said counting is performed by access control list (ACL) logging counters.

25. A method for performing a computer network traffic checking exercise, comprising: a computer system determining content of network traffic to be generated for a performance of said traffic checking exercise; determining expected results of said traffic checking exercise based upon said network traffic to be generated; initiating the generation of traffic from a traffic generator for receipt by a device under test (DUT); accessing said network traffic wherein individual packets of said network traffic comprise actual packet content verification information; identifying said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does not match their actual packet content verification information and said individual packets that have expected packet content verification information that does match their actual packet content verification information; counting instances where said expected packet content verification information matches said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets and instances where said expected packet content verification information does not match said actual packet content verification information for said individual packets; and comparing a count of matches of said expected content verification information and said actual content verification information for each traffic component to an expected count of matches in order to identify duplicated or lost traffic components.